The invention relates to a luggage rack having a support member and a mesh structure arranged in parallel with the support member and being formed by net strings that are fixed to the support member at closed edges of the luggage rack.
Such luggage racks are frequently provided at the back side of the seat back of vehicle seats. Then, the support member is in most cases formed by a plastic molding which forms the back wall of the seat back or at least a part of this back wall.
For attaching the mesh structure at the support member, there is conventionally used a wire bow bent into a U-shape and passing through the peripheral meshes of the mesh structure and thereby holding the mesh structure tightened, the bow being fixed by brackets, bolts or the like at the support member which is formed by a hollow plastic frame and/or an essentially flat base plate. The opening of the luggage rack is in most cases formed at the top edge. There, the meshes of the mesh structure are held by an expandable string that is tightened between the free legs of the wire bow.
With this known construction, the production of the wire bow, the insertion of the wire bow into the mesh structure and the attachment of the wire bow at the support member incurs high material and assembly costs. Moreover, the wire bow significantly impairs the appearance of the luggage rack. When the wire bow engages a flat base plate, there is also a risk of injuries if, for example when the vehicle is suddenly braked; a passenger bumps with his knee against the relatively rigid wire bow. For this reason, the base plate is frequently formed with a peripheral bulge which surrounds the luggage rack, so that the wire bow is accommodated in a shallow depression of the base plate. In this case, however, a gap, which is difficult to clean, is formed between the peripheral bulge of the base plate and the wire bow. If the wire bow is accommodated in a hollow frame which itself engages the base plate, a gap, through which the mesh structure can pass through, must be formed between the frame and the base plate.